The European Commission on Jan. 16 imposed antidumping duties on fused alumina from China. The duties range from 88.7% to 110.6% and are paired with a tariff rate quota that allows a "limited volume of Chinese imports to enter the EU without duties," the commission said. The quota will apply for an initial five-year period. Fused alumina is used in the production of steel, other metals, glass and ceramics and is "widely used in defence-related applications," the commission added.

The EU and the U.K. plan to lower their price caps on Russian crude oil from $47.60 per barrel to $44.10 per barrel, they announced this week. The new price will take effect Feb. 1, although a transitional period through April 16 will permit certain payments of $47.60 per barrel for contracts that were concluded before 11:01 GMT on Jan. 31 for the U.K. and before Jan. 16 for the EU, according to FAQs released by the two entities. The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation also updated its price cap general license to reflect the change.

The Netherlands is considering a new sanctions bill that could give the country power to impose administrative penalties alongside its existing criminal framework, create a “central reporting point” for sanctions, and put in place other measures to modernize the country’s sanctions implementation and rules, Dutch law firm Knepplehout said in a client alert this month.

British companies are still seeing significant post-Brexit trade delays and disruptions when moving goods to and from the EU, including steel products, jets, autos, agricultural goods and more, U.K. industry officials told the country’s Parliament this week. They urged the U.K. government to resolve a range of customs issues with the EU and negotiate carve-outs from upcoming EU tariffs, especially as they said the U.K.’s trade relationship with the U.S. grows more unpredictable.

The EU is considering more sanctions against Iran in response to the government's violent crackdown against protesters in recent days, said Kaja Kallas, the European Commission's foreign affairs chief and president of the Foreign Affairs Council. Speaking in Berlin before a meeting with the German defense minister, Kallas said the Iranian regime has a "track record of brutally suppressing protests," calling it "unacceptable." While the EU "already has sweeping sanctions in place" against people in Iran for human rights abuses, "we are discussing on putting additional sanctions," she said.

The European Commission said this week that it's setting up a process by which Chinese electric vehicle exporters can agree to limit the number of EVs they ship to Europe and set minimum prices for those sales. The new limits and price “undertakings,” the result of discussions with China’s Ministry of Commerce, could lead to the removal of the EU’s countervailing duties on certain Chinese EVs (see 2506090007).

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa visited Damascus last week to meet with Syrian officials and discuss “renewed bilateral relations” with the country following the EU’s decision last year to ease sanctions (see 2505290017). The commission said the EU plans to pursue “enhanced trade and economic cooperation” with Syria, and von der Leyen said the EU has “invited” the European Investment Bank to resume activity in Syria. The bloc also has begun discussions on resuming the two sides’ cooperation agreement “so that Syria can start to benefit once again from access to the European economic market,” she said.

A Danish member of the European Parliament from an eco-socialist party called the Red-Green Alliance is pushing for the parliament to halt consideration of a legislative package that would drop tariffs on American industrial goods and give U.S. agriculture more access to the EU market.

The U.K. government is "unaware" of any British weapons or ammunition being illegally exported for the ongoing civil war in Sudan, Trade Policy Minister Chris Bryant said Jan. 6 in a written response to the U.K. Parliament.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation recently issued new FAQs about its Russia-related general license that applies to certain transactions to cover the costs of arbitration. New FAQs 177-183 address the circumstances under which companies should use the license and what payments are specifically covered. They also clarify that there needs to be a U.K. "nexus" for the payment to be affected by the country's sanctions, state that legal advice and representation in dispute resolution is included in the U.K.'s definition of “Legal Services,” and more.